Minister Bolat: Türkiye is one of the reliable actors of global trade

Minister of Commerce Ömer Bolat made a written statement regarding the development of Türkiye's foreign trade on the 103rd anniversary of the Republic.

Bolat pointed out that the Turkish economy, which had an export structure based on agricultural products in 1923, has now reached a wide and value-added export range ranging from automotive to white goods, from the defense industry to software, and said, "Our goods exports, which were only 50 million dollars in 1923, increased to 2.9 billion dollars in 1980 and 36.1 billion dollars in 2002. As of September, our goods exports reached 283.7 billion dollars on an annualized basis." reached and broke the record in the history of our Republic." he said.

Stating that Türkiye's share in world goods exports was at an average level of 0.38 percent between 1980 and 2000, Bolat stated that it increased to 0.55 percent in 2002 and 1.04 percent in 2025.

Pointing out that this great success is the most concrete indicator that Türkiye has further strengthened its place on the world stage with its production power, export capacity and competitive economy, Bolat continued his statement as follows:

"Exports, which were made to only 24 countries and 30 chapters in the first years of our republic, have spread to 223 countries and customs regions in all chapters and approximately 13 thousand different products as of January-September this year. Turkey now has a highly competitive and dynamic export economy that delivers its production to all over the world. As of 2025, over 1 billion dollars of exports have been made to 51 countries. In the same year, the annual exports of our 33 provinces exceeded 1 billion dollars. While the number of exporting companies increased to 167 thousand 779, the number of exports exceeding 1 billion dollars reached 53. While 1 billion dollars of exports could be achieved in a year in 1973, this success could be achieved in a month, and since 2013, our daily exports sometimes exceed 2 billion dollars. This extraordinary development is due to the huge increase in Türkiye's production capacity. "It is the most concrete indicator of the confidence and competitiveness our exporters have gained in world markets, as well as the economic maturity we have reached as we enter the second century of our Republic."

Bolat underlined that Türkiye has now become a trade and export power that not only produces but also delivers what it produces to the world, and noted that despite the difficulties in the world trade environment, Türkiye has maintained its economic resilience and reached record export levels in many markets.

Stating that exports to European Union (EU) countries, which were 11.3 billion dollars in 1996, increased to 118.7 billion dollars annually as of September with the momentum gained by the Customs Union, Bolat said, "While our share in the total imports of the EU-27 was 2.2 percent in 2002, it reached 4.1 percent, the highest level of all time, by 2025." he said.

Bolat stated that Türkiye is a reliable, stable and strong trade partner preferred by developed countries, and stated that while the share of industrial products exports in total exports was 21.2 percent in 1969, this rate increased to 94.3 percent by 2025.

Source: TRT Haber Ekonomi RSS (Open Press / Translated Full Text)